Witch in Lawrenceville

Apparently eighty years ago, there was an encounter with an armed weapon over a Witch in Lawrenceville as reported in the Lawrence County News on July 23, 1942.

War broke out when a neighbor took a shot at another neighbor, but no blood was shed. The scene of the incident was Fourth and Locust streets in Lawrenceville, where the misunderstanding occurred between neighbors and wound up with a war of words, not to mention personal encounters that included the firing of a revolver.

It all started Sunday when Mrs. Mary E. Crawford engaged in conversation with a neighbor across the street. During the friendly conversation Mrs. Crawford said: "The Witch is out but we are going to have nice weather", or words to that effect. She made reference to a weather indicator in the form of a witch in a small box hanging on the side of the house, but Mrs. Maybelle Midget, another neighbor, apparently thought the words referred to her, and she resented the accusation.

Following a heated argument Mrs. Midget entered her home and came out with a revolver which she fired, hitting no one. More words followed and after being threatened with the law, Mrs. Midget took off for Indiana.

When Sheriff Bale went to the Midget domicile to serve the warrant, Mrs. Midget was gone. Not to be denied, the officer told her husband that if he did not produce the lady in question without delay, he, the said husband, would be incarcerated in the County jail.

The threat had its effect and Mrs. Midget surrendered to the Sheriff Monday evening. She was placed in the County jail for the night. She entered an emphatic denial to the charge before Judge Philip H. Lewis Tuesday morning, and was placed under a $500 bond.

No other information followed in the newspaper. According to a description of the weather predictor, the witch comes out if it is going to rain, and the children come out if it is not.